Contesting Fate
by MssrBlaze
Summary: What happens when a strange boy shows up at Hogwarts in the dead of the night? Will he earn the trio's trust? More importantly, can he save them from the sea of despair they are walking blindly into? SBHG HPGW RW? Rated M for safety reasons....AU.
1. Desperate Measures

**A/N: **_This is an AU type story. The character of Dorian was inspired by, but not necessarily the same as, **Chris** from **Charmed. **If any of the content of my story is not to your liking, or if a Sirius Hermione pairing will upset you, please refrain from flaming me and just stop reading now. Thank you._

_**Time-Changer- **Cheesy sounding, but go with me here…It is similar to a Time Turner, but it allows you to…Actually, you should keep reading to find out what it does!_

**Disclaimer: _ I do not own Harry Potter or any of the other aforementioned characters or television shows. This story is strictly fictional, as are all characters in it. Enjoy._**

KCKCKC

Chapter One

'Desperate Measures'

Dorian didn't know where he was running to, only that he had to get somewhere safe to use the Time-Changer (see A/N). He had barely escaped the Museum of Light Artifacts with his life, and he knew that Death Eaters were hot on his tail even as he ran. As he looked back over his shoulder, he saw two of the cloaked figures as he had predicted. Quickly, he dodged into a nearby alleyway. After making sure it was deserted, he began doing the only thing he could think of to save his time. The only thing possible to change his families' future. Carefully, he activated the Time-Changer and held his breath.

**DeeDeeDee**

"Ugh! I can't do this anymore, Hermione! If I read another page, my brain will explode! Do you want that on your conscience?" Ron said, pushing his chair back from the table in front of him.

Hermione sighed. "That's what you've been saying for the last two hours and it's obvious that your brain is still in one piece."

"According to whom?" Harry asked, smirking at his two best friends. They had been fighting on and off for the last four hours that they'd been in the library studying. This being their seventh and final year, they had lots of studying to do. Hermione had been pushing them since the start of term to get a move on and try to 'care about their futures'. Both boys had been lax until recently when they had finally given in to her constant nagging.

Ron and Hermione answered Harry's sarcasm with sceptical eyes. Ron was too bored to put up a fight, and Hermione was too serious. "What? Four hours is long enough, isn't it?" he asked, receiving a grateful look from the former and a glare from the latter.

Hermione continued to glare, but eventually rolled her eyes. Somehow, she could never say no to Harry. Ron, on the other hand, wasn't so difficult to refuse. Actually, she enjoyed refusing him just to see the way he reacted.

"Fine. Go for tonight. But we'll be at it at the same time tomorrow, alright?" she said, beginning to stack up all the books they had been using.

"Deal." Ron answered, grinning from ear to ear like some kind of child in a candy store. "I think I'd agree to anything to get out of here!"

Hermione smiled. The boys still acted so childish, even at the age of seventeen. However, she loved them both, so she normally didn't allow it to bother her too much.

"We'll see you back at the Common Room later, right Herm?" Harry asked her while snapping the clasp on his back shut and proceeding to sling it over his shoulder.

Hermione nodded. "Yeah. I just have to do my patrolling first, but I should be able to stop in for a goodnight. I won't stay long, though."

Harry and Ron smiled at each other. They both knew that Hermione tended to study each night before she went to bed, so she always tried to be in her rooms at a decent hour. Tried being the key word. Somehow, they always seemed to detain her.

"Alright. See you later." they said, turning and exiting the library.

Hermione vaguely wondered what her two friends were going to go do. Ron she assumed would either go to the kitchens to get some food, or go straight back to the Common Room to play chess with anybody willing to lose nastily. Harry would be going to the Common Room to 'sit by the fire'. This actually meant that he was going to meet Ginny, spontaneously of course, and the two would talk and talk and talk until Ron or Hermione forced them to go to bed. The unfortunate thing was that neither of the two would ever make a move on the other. It was obvious to everyone that they liked each other, but Ginny was too shy and unsure of herself, and Harry was, well, Harry. He was too scared of hurting someone else to even worry whether or not he was hurting himself.

After Hermione finished putting all the books away, she shouldered her bag and exited the library. Nervously, she counted in her head the days left until their exams. Only 14 days. Merely 2 weeks until the deciding moment of their young lives. Hardly enough time to study before undertaking a task such as that!

Sighing again, she said the password to get into her rooms (which she had approached, obviously) and went in. She dropped her bag on a nearby chair, shrugged out of her heavy robes, and exited once more to begin her duties for the night. She had enough time, if she hurried, to study a little bit before she met the boys. Merlin knew she wasn't going to have time enough to study before bed. Those boys always managed to do something to stall her each night.

**DeeDeeDee**

Smoke engulfed him so that Dorian had to close his eye's to keep them from watering. After a few minutes, he opened them again, half expecting his plan to have failed and for himself to be surrounded by Death Eaters. To his surprise, however, his surroundings were not that of the alleyway he had previously been in. If all the history books he had read and stories he'd heard were true, he was standing in a corridor in none other than the legendary Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. His plan had succeeded so far. Gathering his wits about him and standing on feeble legs, he looked about him. He did not know quite where he was, but he was sure that the Headmaster's office couldn't be that hard to find. It was imperative to his plan that he first speak with the great Albus Dumbledore.

He quickly chose a direction and determinedly set off.

**DeeDeeDee**

Hermione stifled a yawn as she rounded the final corner on her way to Gryffindor tower. That little bit of studying she had managed to complete had taken quite a bit out of her and she was planning to tell the boys that she couldn't stay but a few minutes.

She faintly heard footsteps behind her and turned to tell off whomever it was that was out roaming about at this hour, and was surprised to see her Defence Against the Dark Arts professor.

"Oh, hello Professor. What are you doing out and about at this hour?" she asked through another yawn. It wasn't that she was disappointed to see him. She loved every chance she got to see the gorgeous specimen. She was just surprised that's all.

"Hello Hermione. And how many times must I tell you to call me Sirius? All that Professor junk makes me feel more ancient than I am." he paused to flash a brilliant smile at her that made her heart do enough gymnastics to win the Olympics. "I was on my way to have a quick chat with Harry. Why are you out so late?"

She smiled and pointed to the shiny badge pinned to her shirt. "I am an authority figure here, Mr. Black, and therefore have the privilege and excuse to roam the halls in the dead of night. Plus I was heading in the same direction you were." she teased. Actually, flirted would have been a better term for it, but Hermione refused to register that that was what she was doing. Flirting seemed to normally be so beneath her, after all, and this was the only way to except it without being hypocritical.

He smiled again. "Well, shall I escort you then? You know protect you and all that?" he asked with a smirk.

She smiled and almost obliged if it hadn't been for a yawn betraying her. "Actually, I think I'll have to take a rain check on that. But you could tell the boys that I went to bed." she said, smiling at him sweetly like a child trying to get what she wanted.

Of course, it worked, but not for the exact reason Hermione thought. "Sure. See you tomorrow." he said with a wink.

Hermione smiled again. "Thanks. And, goodnight, Sirius."

"Goodnight Hermione." she heard him say as she turned back down the corridor.

She was yawning again, and thinking about Sirius when she bumped into something rather hard and fell to the ground (which itself was rather hard and very painful).

"Oww….." she moaned, sitting up and looking around to see who, or what, she'd run into.

"Sorry. I wasn't expecting to…." the person began, then trailed off as if realising something at the end of his thought. He appeared to be about her age and a little taller than Harry. (The boy of course was still standing.) He had dark brown, nearly black, hair that hung to his shoulders in a messy mop. His eyes were, in a word, stunning and strangely familiar. Their eyes locked for a moment before the boy held out a hand to her.

She took it and allowed him to help her to her feet. Once she finished dusting her bottom off, she looked at him again. He was staring at her with an odd look on his face. When he saw her looking at him, he quickly snapped out of whatever stupor he had been in and smiled at her.

"My name is Dorian. Who are you?" he asked politely.

"Uh…Hermione Granger. Look, Dorian, not that I'm trying to sound grouchy or anything, but I have to ask you what you are doing out here at this time of night. It's sort of my job." she said, supplying him with an apologetic look.

"I was on my way to see the Headmaster. I'm new and was told to report there right away. The only thing is I've been lost for a while now…." he told her.

"Alright. I'll take you there myself so you aren't caught by anyone else. Come on." she said, leading him in the opposite direction from the one in which he had been travelling.

**DeeDeeDee**

Dorian just couldn't believe his luck. First, he got lost in the maze of corridors. Then, he runs into his mother. Literally.

She was a lot different from the woman she became in his future. She seemed happier and more optimistic that she normally was, if not a little weary from late night studying and patrolling hours. Seeing her this way was something that he definitely had to change for the future. She didn't deserve to go from pleasant and happy to…well….not pleasant and happy.

"Here you are. Good luck." her voice broke into his thoughts. He revelled in the small smile she supplied him and stored it into his memory for future reference.

"Thank you, Hermione." he said, not quite sure what else to say to her.

"See you around." she said, turning on her heel and heading for what he assumed was her warm bed. Suddenly, she stopped and turned back around to face him. "Oh, the password is 'Chocolate Frogs'. Good night."

And she returned to her course up the hall, leaving him to stare at the daunting statue of a gargoyle in confusion. What was he going to say to explain himself?

**DeeDeeDee**

A/N: Ok. I dropped enough very unsubtle hints as to who Dorian is. Also, can anyone guess his father? Or why he travelled back in time in the first place?

Easy questions! Now please click that little button down there…..NO! Not that one yet. I haven't typed the next chapter yet. The OTHER button…..there you go…….


	2. World of Darkness Revealed

**A/N: **Thank you to all the reviewers of the last chapter. I appreciate everything you say….really I do. It helps me to type up another chapter (my least favourite thing to do is type up what I have written already…).

**Warning: **My best friend and internet source is leaving for Virginia for college at the end of the week so theses updates will probably come slower. If they stop for a while, never fear, for I will keep writing. It may just take a while to get them posted. Thank you.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own HP. Nor do I own the phrase 'Dee Dee Dee'. It belongs to Carlos Mencia and Comedy Central.

KCKCKC

Chapter Two

'World of Darkness'

Dorian stepped into the staircase and rode up to the top nervously. He still hadn't pieced together exactly what he was going to say to Dumbledore. Only that he had to tell him everything so that he could attempt to rectify what had become of the magic and muggle worlds.

Also, it was somewhat odd for him to meet someone that had been dead for the last fifteen years and was a legend even in his bleak existence.

When the stone staircase stopped, he saw a wooden door with an odd-looking knocker on it. Hesitantly, he walked over to it and grasped the knocker, pulling it back and then releasing it again. The resounding 'thump' almost made him cover his ears with his hands it was so loud. Suddenly, a voice sounded, taking the place of the loud knocker.

"Come in!" it said rather merrily. Obviously, Albus Dumbledore was in good spirits, and that seemed to be a good thing to Dorian as he pushed open the large door and entered the room.

Dorian looked about himself as he walked into the circular room. It was awfully cluttered looking with trinkets of every shape and size littering the desks, tables, and spilling over onto the floor. There were so many things filling the room that Dorian wasn't sure how the man fit in here at all. Hell, he couldn't even see him anywhere…

"Hello there. Who might you be?" came a voice towards the centre of the room. Looking over, Dorian now noticed a desk, and behind the desk was a thin man with a long white beard and half-moon spectacles. The one and only Albus Dumbledore.

Dorian stuttered. "Uh….Dorian, sir." he didn't know what else to say. Where to start. It seemed foolish to say 'I am here to save the world!' which he was in truth.

Dumbledore seemed to take notice of his peril and his blue eyes twinkled. "I usually find that the beginning is a good place to start when telling any story."

Dorian nodded and launched into the tale of his very existence, leaving out the names of his parents for the time being. When he was finished, Dumbledore sat staring off into space in a grim silence. Dorian stood there, fidgeting with the hem of his t-shirt unsure of what to do or say. Finally, Dumbledore looked up after a few more minutes.

"What is your last name, Dorian, if I may ask?" he questioned, the tell tale twinkle back in his blue eyes. Dorian vaguely thought that the twinkle might be hope or some similar emotion.

"My name is Dorian James Black, sir." he answered, receiving a look of approval and happiness from Dumbledore.

The old man smiled at him mischievously. "That's what I thought."

**DeeDeeDee**

Hermione rushed around her room in a frenzy. Somehow, she had managed to oversleep and get up in only enough time to have to rush down to breakfast if she wanted anything to eat. An impatient knock at her door informed her that Ron and Harry had gotten tired of waiting on her and had come up to see where she was.

"I'm coming!" she yelled, pulling her hair up in a loose knot at the back of her head. She then grabbed her robes from a nearby chair and threw them on over her skirt and shirt. Making sure her Head Girl badge was firmly in place, she rushed over to the door and opened it, nearly jerking Ron's arm out of socket (he had been attempting to open it at the same time).

"Blimey, Hermione! Let me keep my arm, thanks!" he said, rubbing at the joint where it connected to his shoulder. Hermione smiled apologetically and then looked around for Harry. He wasn't anywhere in sight.

"Sorry. Where's Harry?" she asked. Ron shrugged and gave her his normal vacant expression.

"I dunno. He was gone when I got up this morning. Seamus said something about McGonagall coming for him early this morning, but it's hard to tell."

Hermione frowned. Why would McGonagall come for Harry so early in the morning? Unless there was something wrong. Voldemort had been striking more frequently lately, so maybe something had happened…

"Come on, we have to go find him." she said, grabbing Ron by the collar and pulling him roughly down the corridor towards Dumbledore's office.

Halfway there, Ron finally managed to pull free of her grip. "Let go Hermione! I can walk myself, you know."

She rolled her eyes. "Why didn't you come get me earlier? What if something is wrong? All you were worried about was food! How is that going to make you feel!" she yelled at him, receiving the attention of another inhabitant of the corridor they were walking down.

Sirius walked over to them with an amused expression on his face. He always laughed when Hermione was berating Ron. Or Harry, for that matter.

"What's wrong, you two?" he asked, hurrying along to catch up to Hermione's break neck pace.

Hermione barely registered him over her shoulder. "Harry's with Dumbledore. McGonagall came for him early this morning and Ron didn't think it was important enough to skip breakfast over. So now we're heading in that direction."

Sirius nodded and walked with them the rest of the way to Dumbledore's office because of course he was as concerned as Hermione was for his godson's well-being.

**DeeDeeDee**

Dorian was sitting face to face with two legends. Albus Dumbledore was seated in front of him and Harry Potter was seated to his left. It was somewhat surreal that he was faced with these two people that no longer existed where he lived.

Harry was staring at him with an expression that said plainly that he did not trust him. Dumbledore kept smirking back and forth between the two of them. Finally, Harry spoke.

"So, what's going on, sir?" he asked, speaking to the Headmaster but never wavering an eye from Dorian.

Dumbledore looked to Dorian. "Perhaps you would like to explain?" he said.

Dorian sighed and then nodded, launching into his story with some reluctance. He wondered how many times he was going to be asked to tell his tale. After a while it would get rather old.

Once he finished it up, Harry was peering into his eyes as if to see some glimpse into the future to tell whether or not he was lying. Dorian stared back at him with the same intensity until finally Harry semi-smiled at him. What he saw in his eyes that caused him to trust him Dorian knew not. Only that he was grateful it didn't take up too much of his time.

"So, what's your name? Are you related to me?" Harry asked, completely surprising Dorian but at the same time allowing him to see that the reason Harry trusted him so quickly was that he was curious. Curiosity always killed the cat, thought a voice in Dorian's head that he thought best to ignore for the time being.

"Dorian James Black." he said in monotone. The look on Harry's face was one of pleasure.

"So you are related to me….well, sort of. Sirius is your dad, right?" he asked.

Dorian nodded.

"Then your like, what, my cousin or something? After all, Sirius is my godfather. It's got to mean something." Harry said with a grin, obviously pleased to find some semblance of family. Dorian remembered reading that Harry Potter was an orphan from the age of one, and that the family he lived with until he was of age treated him badly.

"Uh….sure. I suppose. It's never really come up in any conversation…" Dorian supplied, unsure of what else to say.

Harry paused in his questions for a moment, seemingly pondering something. He seemed to pluck up enough courage to ask after a few minutes as he looked at Dorian expectantly.

"Who's your mum? I always thought that Sirius would never settle down. I mean, there seemed to be no one out there that was his type, you know?" Harry said all in one nervous breath. He was probably wondering if he would like the future Mrs. Black.

Dorian hesitated. He didn't want to freak Harry out right away, or make him angry, but he asked. Therefore, it was only fitting to answer his question. Besides, it would all come out in the wash anyway.

"Hermione Granger."

Harry's jaw dropped. Obviously, he hadn't been expecting that one.

"Hermione? Our Hermione? Bookworm Hermione?" he asked, all to which Dorian answered with a nod. All the while Dumbledore was sitting back at his desk, watching the scene before him unfold with wondrous eyes.

"They aren't together yet, so don't get upset with her or anything. Actually, I don't even think they realise their feelings yet." Dorian said with a smile. He always loved the stories his mother would tell him of his father and how they were when they first fell in love. Of course, those stories were few and far between when she was in one of her rare 'good' moods. On any other occasion, she was sombre and depressed.

Harry seemed to contemplate this for a moment before breaking out into a grin.

"Are they happy together?" he asked, causing Dorian's chest to lurch. How could you tell someone that one of the people you loved was murdered, and that their best friend was a shell of her former self?

"They could be. If I change everything like I intend to." he said solemnly.

There was a silence before Harry locked eyes with him.

"I'll do whatever I need to to help you. I promise." he said, earning respect from Dorian and pride from the older man in the room.

Suddenly, a pounding on the door and Hermione's voice interrupted the three men.

"I know you're in there Harry! Whatever it is, we can face it with you! Open up!" and then the voice of Sirius, "Calm down, Hermione, before you knock down the door!"

This caused all inside to laugh. Dorian was pleased to hear his parents talking and interacting. It was a change from not hearing his mother say much at all and his father being dead.

Dumbledore waved his hand and the door swung open, allowing a red faced Hermione, an expressionless Sirius, and a chastised looking Ron entrance. The three walked in and immediately looked at Harry.

"Are you alright?"

"Is everything fine?"

"No one got hurt, did they?"

"Have you ate yet?"

"Ron!"

Dumbledore's voice cut in with the others, causing them to be silent. "I assure you that Mr. Potter is fine, no one is hurt, and he has indeed eaten already. However, it seems that we have a visitor that it was imperative for Mr. Potter to meet with. May I introduce Mr. Dorian Brown?"

Dorian barely had time to register his change of name before the three new arrivals turned to face him, each looking equally embarrassed.

"Hello. Sorry to have barged in on you. It's just we were worried about Harry here." came the strong baritone of his father. This was the first time Dorian had heard it since he was very little.

His mother stared at him, acknowledging that they had met last night; she nodded her head at him and sat down. Ron did the same, taking a seat next to Harry.

"Well, what's going on here?" Ron said, rather bluntly, earning him a kick in the leg from Hermione.

Dorian laughed softly and then began to retell his story one last time. (He hoped)

"What is a Time-Changer? Is it like a Time-Turner?" Ron asked him once he had summed up.

Dorian nodded. "Yes. Only, a Time-Changer allows you to pick the exact moment in time you want to return to. It was developed a few years ago by a group of rouge Light Wizards wanting to go back and change the outcome of the war. Of course, the Dark Lord didn't like that, so he had it confiscated and attempted to destroy it. However, he soon learned that it held too many complex shielding charms and that to attempt to break them could be very dangerous. He stuck it into a museum where he thought it would be under lock and key at all times. Lucky for me his cronies are imbeciles." he finished with a self-satisfied smirk at the end that would have rivalled his fathers own.

"And….and you're saying that we lose the war? That the world is ruled by Voldemort?" came the soft, fearful voice of his mother.

"Yes. You see, eventually, Harry gave up the fight, thus allowing the dark side to prevail."

"But why would I give up? I mean, I don't want to be a hero, but I understand that it is my fate and only I can stop the Dark Lord." Harry piped up, asking a question that he didn't get a chance to earlier.

Dorian frowned. "You lost your friends. Ron. Sirius. Ginny. Eventually you decided that you had nothing else to live for and your will was broken. Or so legend says."

Everyone was silent and seemed to be processing all the new and horrible information. Hermione suddenly stood up and bolted out of the door, surprising everyone. Dorian was pleased to see, however, that his father was the first one to leap out of his chair and go after her.

**DeeDeeDee**

Hermione didn't know exactly where she was going, only that she had to get out of that office. She had heard too many horrible things that she had a hard time believing. When Dorian had said that all those that Harry, and she, loved died, it had been too much for her to handle. Tears slid down her cheeks as she walked aimlessly down the corridor, not even pausing when she heard someone yell her name and then heard footsteps fall in with her own.

**DeeDeeDee**

**A/N: **Sorry I had to leave that one hanging. If you paid any attention though, you know who is coming after her….

What about those revelations? Evil of me, I know.


End file.
